Make New Friends, but Keep the Old...

A few weeks ago, I finally met Julie, Val's sister.  As I mentioned in a previous post, Val and I went to law school together and have friends in common, but never met until recently.  Val and Julie both came to New York on this visit, so I had a chance to hang out with them and Lena.  We had a delicious brunch at Julie's friend's restaurant before walking over to do some retail therapy around SoHo.  

As an added bonus, we popped into a body and bath store that touts itself as one of the world's oldest pharmacies starting in Florence.  As we wandered around the store, Val was the first to notice that the store's only other potential customer was none other than Usher!  It took me a bit longer to notice that Lena and I were standing right next to him.

The following day, I met up with Amena and some classmates from high school at a yummy dim sum restaurant in Brooklyn's Sunset Park.  Pacificana was packed with hungry dim-summers, and because I was a tad late, Amena, Grace, Joni, Carsten, and their adorable little girl, were all chowing down.  It was really nice catching up with them, as I had not seen Joni or Carsten in years and I hadn't seen Grace in a number of months.  All of them live in Brooklyn and urged me to check out the borough's neighborhoods.  Although I didn't have time to explore Sunset Park, it seemed to have a significant Chinese population, with interesting stores and restaurants in abundance.  

Last weekend, I volunteered along with about 20 other Punahou alumni through New York Cares, an organization that facilitates volunteer work in communities throughout the boroughs.  We spent a good part of Saturday organizing the textbook closet, painting the fences, and painting the playground of PS 107X in the Bronx.  It was a great, albeit short, volunteer experience, and I had the chance to talk to a number of fellow alumni living in New York.

CT Covered Bridges, VT Maple Syrup, NH Fall Foliage, and ME Lobster

Eduardo's father had been staying with us for two weeks on a trip from Caracas.  We hadn't seen him in about three years, so, over the three-day weekend, the four of us (Nori included) took a road trip through New England.  After living most of my life in either Hawaii or California, it was a rare chance to drive through seven different states in just three days.  Route 7 was a picturesque, two-lane road winding through the small towns and green, orange, yellow, and red fall leaves.  With only a skeleton schedule to make it to Vermont for our first night's rest, we stopped anywhere that piqued our interest the first day out.

We had never seen a covered bridge in real life, but we pulled over no less than four times to walk through the covered bridges of Connecticut. Seemingly simple structures, I'm sure they work wonders in the winter months.  There were also a number of fly fishermen (I'm not being sexist, since we didn't see any fisherwomen) alongside the rivers.  Eduardo's dad was particularly interested in watching them for awhile, as he had never seen such fishing techniques.

One of my favorite stops was the Sugarbush cheese and maple syrup farm in Woodstock, Vermont.  There, we ambled through the maple trees with their leaves fluttering down and little chickadees hopping from branch to branch.  It was a peaceful stroll where we read the descriptions of maple syrup collection before taking a look-see of some of the farm animals and heading to the syrup and food sampling rooms.  We did not escape successfully without buying some maple syrup, cheese, jams, and other goodies!

We then stopped to have lunch (seafood and corn chowders with sandwiches) before driving through New Hampshire's White Mountain National Forest along the Kancamagus Highway, stopping to walk across a wooden swinging bridge, admire the fall leaves, and take a breather along a beach.

Our last destination was Portland, Maine.  One day, I'd like to explore more of coastal Maine, but our three-day weekend was coming to an end so we spent most of our day in Portland.  Portland is a coastal town that reminded me of some of Northern California's coast towns, such as Carmel or Monterrey.  A bit touristy along the waterfront, but with unique, local shops selling things like pickled ferns, craft beers, lobster oven mitts, and "Moose Track" ice cream, and art galleries galore.  We stopped at a shop for maple and chocolate donuts before having brown butter (Eduardo and his dad) and ginger scallion (me) lobster rolls. A perfect end to a long weekend in New England.

Planes, Trains, & Automobiles

I haven't watched the Steve Martin/John Candy classic in a while, but I always giggle when I think about the "Those aren't pillows!" scene.  It really has nothing to do with this post, other than the fact that it lead to my contemplation that taking different modes of transportation allows you to experience life from different perspectives, both literally and figuratively.

Central Park pit stop

A number of weeks ago, Lena, her friends Shayna and Jill, Eduardo, and I, signed up for a free "Brompton Bike Tour" through NYCeWheels, a specialty bicycle shop on the upper Eastside.  Brompton bicycles are amazing folding bicycles, ingeniously designed, aesthetically attractive, and completely useful.  I bought one for my commute (bicycle, train, and shuttle) from San Francisco to/from San Jose every day, and I brought it with me to New York.  NYCeWheels receives support from Brompton, a company in England, so that during the summer people can use the bicycles for free for the tours.  Since I have an attachable basket for my bike, Nori came with us too.

From NYCeWheels, we headed to Central Park, cycled on to the upper Westside, joined up with a bike path along the Hudson River, and up to the Little Red Lighthouse in Fort Washington Park under the George Washington Bridge.  After a rest to enjoy the view and take a few snaps, our group continued back down the path, through Harlem and Spanish Harlem, and then down along an East River path.  All in all, it was a 3-hour long bicycle tour.  I also enjoyed chatting with the other people on the tour, including a woman who had recently immigrated from Tsingtao (yes, it is an actual place in China and not just the name of a beer) and a young fella originally from the deep south, who gave me his honest opinion on the best BBQ joints in New York.  In a city like New York, it can be difficult to meet and talk with strangers on a more personal level, but somehow cycling alongside each other made it easier to open up and talk.

an unusual view of Grand Central

Last month, Lena, Eduardo, and I (plus Nori, of course) relished a "summer streets" event described as an "annual celebration of New York City’s most valuable public space—our streets."  Park Avenue was closed down to cars for an entire morning.  There were various booths and organizations set up along the way, but just walking down from 72nd street all the way down to SoHo was quite special.  

Taking advantage of the unique angles to look up at the buildings was a reminder of how much history and unique architecture there is all around.  

The Park Avenue Tunnel was also closed to traffic so walkers could experience a sound installation by Norwegian artist Jana Winderen.  She used sounds recorded in underwater environments around the world.

Love - Part II

On Tuesday evening, I met up with Amena and Lena in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park to watch a U.S. Open game in Arthur Ashe Stadium.  Since we bought the tickets a few weeks ago, we did not know exactly who we would be playing until just a couple days before the game.  We were excited to find out we would get to watch Roger Federer play Roberto Bautista Agut.  It was a good game, with #17 rallying, but #3 ranked Federer was fascinating in how he managed to work his way up to the net quite strategically.  While we didn't get to rub elbows with Anna Wintour or Sally Fields, who had prime courtside seats, we saw the game quite well when we were not eating chicken fingers and fries or catching up on each other's lives.  The second game matched Caroline Wozniacki against Sara Errani, and the match was not so even.  In any case, we left mid-match around 11PM to catch the 7 train back home.

Next year I'll have to study a bit more on how tennis scoring works and learn what "love" means in the context of scores!

Love - Part I

Robert Indiana's "Love"

Eduardo and I took this past long weekend to venture out of New York to the "City of Brotherly Love" - also known as Philly!  Since our plan was hatched at the last minute, the train fares were ridiculously expensive.  We ended up taking a "Chinatown bus" (only $11 one-way!) from - yes, you guessed it - Manhattan's Chinatown to Philly's Chinatown. It was quite a comfortable ride and lasted two hours.  On the downside, no pets are allowed on the bus, so Nori enjoyed her staycation in NY with Aunty Lena, Lena's sister Kara, and Kara's friend. Kara and her friend were in town for a wedding, and as luck would have it, Kara earned her medical degree from U. Penn a couple years ago.  Throughout the weekend I received texts from Lena with Kara's great food suggestions.

Through Airbnb I booked a condo near Rittenhouse Square, a centrally located neighborhood in Philly, and we walked a couple of blocks to Tria for some wine, fried oysters, crab cake, and fries smothered in black truffled cheese sauce.

by one of my favorite artists

Despite Philly's annual "Made in America" concert, which disallowed what would have been our Rocky-like race up the front stairs to the museum doors, we spent nearly the entire following day enjoying the museum's offerings, including the collection of medieval arms and armor (I now understand what it means to "throw down the gauntlet"), a rare Vermeer, a room full of Thomas Eakins paintings, and reconstructed Japanese tea rooms.  We also visited the nearby Perelman Building exhibiting the colorful fashions of African American designer Patrick Kelly.  Seeing his designs brought me back to the late 80s and early 90s when big, colorful, plastic buttons sewn onto white Ts or denim was à la mode. Before calling it a night, we walked over to one of Kara's suggestions, Barbuzzo, for Mediterranean food and cocktails.

man v. Parmesan cheese

note: before I got my water ice, I was super grouchy

Sunday we did quite a bit of walking, first to the Reading Terminal Market (kind of like the SF Ferry Building) and then down to the 9th Street Italian Market, which, like many historic Italian neighborhoods, appeared to be losing much authenticity but gaining changes in culture as new immigrants set up shop.  It was uncomfortably hot and humid, so we took all opportunities to duck into the delis and stores to explore and cool down.  Along the way, we stopped for some "water ice" at Philly Flavors - another suggestion from Kara and the highlight of my day.

I had been wanting to go to the Mutter Museum, which aims to "help the public understand the mysteries and beauty of the human body while appreciating the history of diagnosis and treatment of disease." So, we spent two hours there, fascinated, sometimes disgusted, often incredulous.  Did you know that in 2007 a 10 pound ball of hair was removed from a young woman with a hair-eating disorder?  The museum also displays the shared liver of "Siamese Twins" Chang and Eng, as well as slides of Albert Einstein's brain (Eduardo was pretty disturbed at how Einstein's brain was stolen from his body and mishandled for years).  The exhibits definitely had a sideshow quality, but at the same time, I really learned a lot from all the information on unusual conditions or diseases.

Our last day was spent on historic Philly - Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, the Benjamin Franklin Museum, etc. Franklin made his fortune by the age of 42 through a printing business and then spent the rest of his life on his intellectual pursuits, including politics.  Don't we all aspire to similar endeavors (well, except maybe the politics part)? I like this quote from Franklin:  "If you would not be forgotten, as soon as you are dead and rotten, either write things worth reading, or do things worth the writing."

Yankee Doodle

Victor, Corina, & Eduardo

This past week, Eduardo and I had the pleasure of hosting his cousin Victor, who now lives in Calgary and studies electrical engineering at the university there.  Victor travels the way I do - at full speed - using almost every minute of the day to soak in everything possible.  He loves theater and saw something like 5 Broadway shows, including Phantom of the Opera, Aladdin, Avenue Q, Newsies, and Matilda.  He also works at a theater in Calgary, and is often able to work shifts that allow him to watch the shows.  Sad to say, I have yet to see a Broadway show since I got here in May, but "Broadway Week" is fast approaching, so Eduardo and I are on the lookout for discounted tickets.

at the Yankees v. Tigers game

On his last evening here, Victor treated us to a Yankees v. Chicago White Sox game.  Eduardo and I had been to a Yankees v. Detroit Tigers game a couple weeks prior, so it wasn't our first time at the stadium, but this game was definitely more exciting, with a better outcome.  Corina, Eduardo's sister, who is studying English here, also came to the game, so it was a bit of a family reunion.  Jeter is definitely the most popular player, although I'm sure he has many more female fans that are willing to cheer quite loudly whenever he is up to bat.  I have to say, he's actually not just a pretty face, as he was a clutch hitter during the White Sox game.  It was a great game, as the Yankees won the game in the bottom of the 9th, with the game tied, the bases loaded, and Venezuelan Martin Prado hitting the game-winner.

I've retained some of my loyalty to the SF Giants, though.  It was an easy walk to AT&T Park from the apartment, a gorgeous, bay side setting, the food is better (I know I've already talked about the Crazy Crabz sammie in a previous post!), and by now I know most of the players by name, who seemed more familiar (e.g., seeing Hunter Pence coming down the Embarcadero on his motorized scooter and with a big, friendly smile on his face).  Luckily, the Giants and the Yankees are in different leagues, so now I have two teams to cheer on.

Prohibition

I'm back!  I've been back in New York for a while, but I admittedly got a bit caught up in getting back into the swing of things from vacation mode.  It was definitely a bit of a culture shock coming from Sapporo (mountain hot springs, dairy farms, sleepy city-town-villages come to life in the summer) to the hustle and bustle of good old NYC.

hiding our non-prohibition attire

Thanks to Lena's enthusiasm for an annual event held on Governors Island, Jazz Age Lawn Party ("NYC's original prohibition era inspired gathering"), we got tickets before it sold out.  Last Sunday, we took a quick, 5 minute boat ride from Battery Park/Staten Island Ferry to the island, where Michael Arenella and his Dreamland Orchestra played music, attendees were dressed in their finest dapper dandy and flapper attire, and many enjoyed picnicking and imbibing on gin cocktails.  While Lena and I couldn't quite get up to speed with the appropriate dress and dancing, we did have St-Germain and "Flapper's Delight" cocktails before attempting to do the Charleston and cutting a rug on the dance floor.

Out on the dance floor

I think maybe Lena is particularly drawn to the jazz age.  When I first arrived in New York, on one of my first weekends out, she brought up an article on speakeasies.  We decided to start with one located in Chelsea, at the back of a coffee store.  There was a short line in front of the store, so it wasn't really hidden.  Once inside, it was a bit too crowded, with a big copper bathtub in the middle of the room (the place is appropriately named "Bathtub Gin".  After having a couple of overpriced cocktails, we hoofed it a few blocks away to the Raines Law Room, where we apparently did not know the secret pass phrase, for we were turned away by the "Butler" who opened the door, and then closed it on us.  Lena wanted to linger near the door to see if there was a way we could get in, and to her credit, she accosted the next person coming out, asking him if it was worth trying to get into the speakeasy.  At first he said, "well, yes", before continuing to walk on his way, but when Lena asked, "Are you SURE?!" He said, "well, yes, I'm the owner, so I think it is."  She then asked him to let us in, and he did.  I have to say, the ambiance felt right for a speakeasy - darkly lit, booths with pulls when you wanted a drink - even the wallpaper was unique.

The owner also told us of another speakeasy he had just opened a few more blocks away, so we made it to the third speakeasy of the night.  Probably not the best idea, for two women who are not big drinkers, but we made it, took a looky-loo, and had another round of cocktails before calling it a night.

While I'm not enamored with speakeasies (or the very expensive cocktails), there's another one I'd like to see.  Eduardo and I took a walking tour called "Gangs and Mobs of New York" that took us through parts of Little Italy, Chinatown, and the Five Points (I keep meaning to watch "Gangs of New York" but haven't had a chance to yet).  In a part of Chinatown called "Bloody Angle" (where the Chinese gangs sometimes fought it out with hatchets/axes, no less), is a small, nondescript shop front with a small sign, "Apotheke".  The guide briefly pointed it out as a speakeasy, so I made a mental note of it.  Just a few weeks ago, my friend Merri came to town to do a triathlon (yes, the triathletes swim in the Hudson River!!!), and I met up with her, her boyfriend, and their other friends at a really good Vietnamese restaurant, Xe Lua, owned by one of the friend's brother.  One of the friends mentioned that she had a great time at Apotheke, so I decided it was fate.  I have yet to go there, though, but I know Lena will be game!